ISRS publishes an assessment of the job creation impact of Lebanon's Circular 331 programme, foc
Entitled "Circular 331: Job Creation Impact", the report is a case study of the UK Lebanon Tech Hub, a private-sector joint initiative by Banque du Liban, Lebanon’s Central Bank, and the UK government through the British Embassy in Beirut.
LONDON — 19 Jun, 2019 — The Institute for Strategy, Resilience and Security was commissioned by the UK Lebanon Tech Hub (UKLTH) in November 2017, to follow the progress of companies that it had supported.
Faced with the cumulative burden of 37% youth unemployment and the highest proportion of refugees per capita in the world, Lebanon is under considerable pressure to create jobs.
This study reports our independent early assessment of the direct and indirect impact of UKLTH on these companies and also offer insights into the job creation effects of the Banque du Liban’s (BDL) Circular 331 initiative, which was launched in 2013 to provide financial stimulus for the funding of early stage companies.
The UK Lebanon Tech Hub (UKLTH), was launched in April 2015 as a joint initiative of the Banque du Liban and the UK government’s Department for International Trade. Although very early to assess job creation impact, the UKLTH has provided assistance to 88 companies over a three-year period, representing the single largest cohort of Circular 331 supported companies. Of 49 companies that responded to our survey about three-quarters were based in Lebanon, and half were incorporated from 2015 onwards.
Quantitative, empirical and supporting anecdotal information data were gathered from introductory interviews and web-form based questionnaires with the founders, CEOs and senior leadership of 49 companies that had participated in the UK Lebanon Tech Hub’s Accelerator and Nucleus programmes during the period 2015-2017. In addition, feedback was collected on opportunities to improve the current approaches being adopted by both the Lebanese Central Bank and UK Lebanon Tech Hub.
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ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGY, RESILIENCE & SECURITY (ISRS) AT UCL
The Institute for Strategy Resilience & Security (ISRS) (www.isrs.org.uk) at UCL serves as a pioneer and forum for next generation thinking. Founded by the Rt Hon. Lord Reid of Cardowan, ISRS provides analysis and assessment of the major issues of resilience with respect to national and global infrastructure and the ability of governments, regulators and businesses to respond to them. The Institute advises industry and the public sector on the persistent challenges to their agility, stamina and capacity for strategic decision making, so as to better face existential threats and disruptive innovation that are not addressed by conventional strategy and forecasting.
ABOUT THE UK LEBANON TECH HUB
The UK Lebanon Tech Hub (UKLTH) is a private-sector joint initiative by Banque du Liban, Lebanon’s Central Bank, and the UK government through the British Embassy in Beirut. It aims to support the growth of the knowledge economy in Lebanon through the development of tech companies in the country and create opportunities for the brightest Lebanese talent to access international markets.
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